This invention relates to an in-line wire drawing machine of the type which pulls a length of wire through a drawing die and supplies the wire to a using station where a production machine such as a cold header performs an operation on the wire. More particularly, the invention relates to a wire drawing machine of the same general type as disclosed in Alcock et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,403.
In such a wire drawing machine, a helical coil of wire is wrapped around a rotatable drum. When the drum is rotated, wire is drawn through the die and wound onto one end of the drum and, at the same time, wire is unwrapped from the other end of the drum and is delivered to the production machine. It is desirable to obtain maximum traction between the wire and the drum in order to develop sufficient force to pull the wire through the drawing die and to prevent the wire from slipping on and galling the drum. Also, it is desirable that the wire leave the drum with minimum tension so that the wire will not pull back on the production machine. In the wire drawing machine of the above-identified Alcock et al patent, these ends are achieved through the provision of a wire-relaxing roller which holds the final wrap of wire against the drum and which prevents the wire from slipping on the drum so as to increase the traction between the wire and the drum. A one-way clutch permits the roller to rotate in a direction allowing wire to be removed from the drum but prevents the roller from rotating in the opposite direction and thereby prevents slippage of the wire on the drum.
The final wrap of wire tends to expand axially from the helix defined by the main coil of wire. Under different conditions or with different types or sizes of wire, the final wrap may tend to take different axial positions along the drum. The axially fixed roller of the wire drawing machine of the Alcock et al patent holds the final wrap in a fixed axial position and, as a result, may exert side loads causing undesirable scraping and marking of the wire.